Choose the Right Synonym for scorn

Verb

despise, contemn, scorn, disdain mean to regard as unworthy of one's notice or consideration. despise may suggest an emotional response ranging from strong dislike to loathing.
despises cowards contemn implies a vehement condemnation of a person or thing as low, vile, feeble, or ignominious.
contemns the image of women promoted by advertisers scorn implies a ready or indignant contempt.
scorns the very thought of retirement disdain implies an arrogant or supercilious aversion to what is regarded as unworthy.
disdained popular music

Examples of scorn in a Sentence

Noun

Unlike government censorship, this corruption eats at one of China's more beleaguered professions from within its ranks. The trading of favors for cash is so prevalent that, like the honest cop in a corrupt police unit, an ethical journalist risks the scorn of colleagues.— Gady A. Epstein, Forbes, 21 July 2008He burns with generous indignation at the scorn with which many literary critics have treated Tolkien, and his subtitle, "author of the Century," is meant to provoke. But provocation is only one of his purposes.— Richard Jenkyns, New Republic, 28 Jan. 2002Claiming their inalienable rights as teenagers, the two exercise an unmitigated scorn for all adults in the immediate vicinity …— B. Ruby Rich, Nation, 3 & 10 Sept. 2001
They treated his suggestion with scorn.
an expression full of scorn
Her political rivals have poured scorn on her ideas for improving the tax system.

Verb

My parents scorned packaged and ready-made foods. It did not matter that, at the time, our hometown was a test-market capital for these sorts of food products; my father still thought that convenience food was a Communist plot, and my mother insisted that only trashy people failed to practice a separation of food groups.— Molly O'Neill, Vogue, January 2007A union member and activist since age 15, bound for an academic career at Cornell and NYU, Fitch, now past 65, writes like a lover scorned.— Rob Long, National Review, 13 Feb. 2006Stung by attacks on his new Excursion—a 12.5-m.p.g. guzzler dubbed "Ford Valdez" by critics—he has expressed fears that auto companies could be scorned like tobacco companies if they don't clean up their act. Similarly, GM has sought to position itself as the greenest car company, beginning in 1996 when it launched the nation's first modern, mass-produced electric car, the EV-1.— Margot Roosevelt, Time, 14 Aug. 2000
He scorns anyone who earns less money than he does.
Her actions were scorned by many people.
They were scorned as fanatics.

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'scorn.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.